Mafia II
Mafia II is the third-person shooter sequel to Mafia: The City of Lost Heaven. The game was developed by 2K Czech, previously known as Illusion Softworks, and published by 2K Games. Development was announced on August 21, 2007 at the Leipzig Games Convention. The game is set in 1940s - 1950s Empire Bay, a fictional city based on New York City and is available for Playstation 3, Xbox 360 and PC. The game was released to North America on August 24, 2010, and to Europe on August 27, 2010. The Mac OS X version of Mafia II: Director's Cut was published by Feral Interactive and released on December 1, 2011. The game experience of Mafia II involves realistic controls featuring a standard action and violent action button, as well as context sensitive situations. The game introduces a cover mechanic not seen in the game's predecessor which allows the player to hide behind objects while in a shootout. There are over 70 highly detailed vehicles, including sports cars, city buses, tractor trailers, station wagons, and more. The game also introduces new weapons, like the MG42, and includes a few from the original game, such as the Colt M1911A1 and the Thompson 1928. Empire Bay's radio stations complete the experience with a wide variety of popular music from the 1940s and 1950s. Synopsis The storyline for Mafia II is a gritty drama and chronicles the rise of Vito Scaletta, the son of Sicilian immigrants. As the game progresses, Vito joins the Falcone crime family and becomes a "made man", as does his best friend Joe Barbaro. The story begins with the player character Vito returning home from World War II. Vito had joined the U.S. Army as a way of avoiding jail time for a botched robbery. Vito reunites with his old friend, Joe Barbaro, and the two quickly embark upon a life of crime. Their criminal ascension starts with Mike Bruski, a car mechanic who needs a certain type of car to chop for parts, and will pay $400 for one that the police are not tailing. Soon enough, Vito, Joe, and Henry Tomasino find themselves battling with, for, against, and around three crime factions: the Falcone, Vinci and Clemente families. The game contains around two hours of in-game cutscenes with a screenplay of 700 pages. Daniel Vávra, the writer and director of the original and the sequel, discussed the new angle of the game stating: "The old game was a tribute to gangster movies, a romantic vision. Mafia II is grittier, real, a darker world, and the effects are based in reality." The Official Playstation Magazine states: "A high body count is still promised in this tale set in a fictional city inspired by New York of the 1940s and '50s, but those casualties will come the hard way -- through small-scale operations rather than mass firefights". Development Work began on Mafia II's script in 2003, with pre-production following in 2004. The game was originally intended for a 2005 release on the PlayStation 2 and Xbox running on a licensed game engine; however, the developer of the engine went under, thus forcing 2K Czech (then Illusion Softworks) to build their own game engine and ultimately move the game's development to the Xbox 360 and PlayStation 3. A playable version of the game was achieved sometime around 2007 or 2008. Downloadable Content On May 26, 2010, four downloadable packs were originally offered as pre-order bonuses, each one available with two exclusive outfits and vehicles, but are now available for purchase in the PSN Store, Xbox Live Marketplace and Steam. *Vegas Pack: Offers two additional cars and two suits for Vito *War Hero Pack: Two military style vehicles plus two new military inspired suits, including a full uniform and fatigues. *Renegade Pack: Two new cars; a small sports coupe and a 50s hot rod. Leather and lettermen’s jackets for Vito. *Greaser Pack: Two hot-rod speedsters and two new suits for Vito, one with a leather jacket and heavy boots, the other a leather racing suit. *The Betrayal of Jimmy: While originally a PS3 exclusive, now available for all platforms with both the Collectors Edition and Directors Cut. *Jimmy's Vendetta: Announced on the official website and released on September 7, 2010. *Joe's Adventures: Announced on the official website and released on November 23, 2010. Collector's Edition On May 26, 2010 a collector's edition was announced, which includes the following items: *Collectible SteelBook Casing: Brushed metallic SteelBook hard case with embossed logo containing two pieces of art featuring Vito and Joe, the stars of Mafia II. *Made Man Pack: Free access to in-game downloadable pack that lets players get behind the wheel of two different luxury automobiles modeled after cars from the period. In addition, Vito gets two new “made man” suits, including a vintage tuxedo. *Hardcover Art Book: A 100-page photo album-style art book that explains the artistic design process of the game. *Mafia II Orchestral Score: Mafia II score recorded by the Prague FILMharmonic Orchestra. *Map of Empire Bay PlayStation 3 Version On June 15, 2010 Sony announced at Electronic Entertainment Expo 2010 that owners of the PlayStation 3 version of the game will be able to download the free DLC upon release, named The Betrayal of Jimmy. The second DLC, Jimmy's Vendetta, will be available for the PC, Xbox 360, and PlayStation 3 shortly after release. Demo A timed demo for the game was released on August 10, 2010. The official description for the demo is as follows: *Vito has started to make a name for himself on the streets of Empire Bay, someone who can be trusted to get a job done. In this hot leaded playable demo, you and Joe get one of your first serious assignments, to deal with a chump that isn't playing ball the way the Mob likes it. Make a Man of yourself in Mafia II. Director's Cut Mafia II: The Director's Cut is a premium edition of the standard game which includes the game and The Betrayal of Jimmy, Jimmy's Vendetta, Joe's Adventures DLC's as well as four style packs. System requirements Minimum system requirements *'Operating System:' Microsoft Windows XP (SP2 or later) / Windows Vista / Windows 7 *'Processor:' Pentium D 3Ghz or AMD Athlon 64 X2 3600+ (Dual core) or higher *'RAM:' 1.5 GB *'Video Card:' nVidia GeForce 8600 / ATI HD2600 Pro or better *'Hard Disk Space:' 8 GB *'Sound Card:' 100% DirectX 9.0c compatible sound card *'Peripherals:' Keyboard and mouse or Windows compatible gamepad Recommended system requirements *'Operating System:' Microsoft Windows XP (SP2 or later) / Windows Vista / Windows 7 *'Processor:' 2.4 GHz Quad Core processor *'RAM:' 2 GB *'Video Card:' nVidia GeForce 9800 GTX / ATI Radeon HD 3870 or better *'Hard Disk:' 10 GB *'Sound Card:' 100% DirectX 9.0c compliant card *'Peripherals:' Keyboard and mouse or Windows compatible gamepad PhysX & Apex enhancement system requirements *'Operating System:' Microsoft Windows XP (SP2 or later) / Windows Vista / Windows 7 *'Minimum Processor:' 2.4 GHz Quad Core processor *'Recommended Processor:' 2.66 GHz Core i7-920 RAM: 2 GB Video Cards and resolution: APEX medium settings *'Minimum:' NVIDIA GeForce GTX 260 (or better) for Graphics and a dedicated NVIDIA 9800GTX (or better) for PhysX *'Recommended:' NVIDIA GeForce GTX 470 (or better) Video Cards and resolution: APEX High settings *'Minimum:' NVIDIA GeForce GTX 470 (or better) and a dedicated NVIDIA 9800GTX (or better) for PhysX *'Recommended:' NVIDIA GeForce GTX 480 for Graphics and a dedicated NVIDIA GTX 285 (or better) for PhysX NVIDIA GPU driver: 197.13 or later. *'NVIDIA PhysX driver:' 10.04.02_9.10.0522. Included and automatically installed with the game. Notes *The game currently holds the record for most usage of the word "fuck" in a video game at 200 instances of the word. The game that held the record before hand was House of the Dead: Overkill, at 189. http://kotaku.com/5640174/guinness-gives-mafia-ii-the-f+bomb-record *Originally the game was to include four alternative endings, although only one was kept and the other three were scrapped as the makers of the game preferred that ending. In the soundtrack, music named "Alternative Ending" is included. It's unknown what was to occur in that ending the music was meant to go with. *The game was originally meant to have 22 chapters and take place from 1946 to 1957, almost ten years of Vito's life. This was stated in a demo released in 2009. The final released version of the game has 15 chapters and takes place from 1943 to 1951, 8 years of Vito's life. Gameplay Mafia II features three difficulty settings. *Easy: At this level, the player's health takes the least damage and regenerates the fastest. *Medium: At this level, the player's health takes moderate damage and regenerates at a moderate rate. *Hard: At this level, the player's health takes the most damage and regenerates the slowest. In addition, enemies are no longer visible on the HUD radar display. *Extreme: During development there was a level above hard called Extreme, but it was cut from the final version. Cast *Rick Pasqualone as Vito Scaletta, Giuseppe *Robert Costanzo as Joe Barbaro, Derek Pappalardo *Sonny Marinelli as Henry Tomasino *Joe Hanna as Eddie Scarpa *Frank Ashmore as Leo Galante *John Mariano as Mike Bruski, El Greco *André Sogliuzzo as Luca Gurino, Carlo Falcone *Jeannie Elias as Francesca Scaletta *Joan Copeland as Maria Scaletta *Larry Kenney as Frank Vinci *Nolan North as Alberto Clemente *Jason Spisak as Marty *Joe Sabatino as Harry *Liam O'Brien as Brian O'Neill *Mark Mintz as Stephen Coyne *John Capodice as Sidney Pen *Brian Bloom as Eric Reilly *James Sie as Zhe Yun Wong *John Cygan as Pepe Costa Trailers Category:Games Category:Mafia II Category:Gameplay